Posts Tagged ‘Chicken’

I had the pleasure of spending a couple weeks in Michigan babysitting my niece and nephews. Its always a little difficult cooking for kids - I want to still be adventurous and they don't like anything. I always take a slew of recipe options and my sister-in-law helps me choose the best options. My youngest nephew is the most picky but he loved a couple things that I made...and for some reason that feels more rewarding than all of the other 5 Stars!
Last time I babysat we did a special party fRead More....

If you love to cook, you can’t let any of the holidays pass you by – traditions, decorations, and friendships – what more can you ask for? This early Easter Test Nest was a treat of happy spring infused flavors like lemon and ginger and of course some seasonal influences of Asparagus and Leeks. I also wanted to challenge myself by making my first whole chicken (its pretty easy too, so not sure why I’ve been so reluctant to do it). My guests included Todd Stevens, Paul DoRead More....

Decorating and creating a Halloween themed menu made me even more excited for Halloween this year. I pulled in help from Mark Litchfield, Sally Atkinson, Mary Maroon and Angie Harding to decorate and make the prep for the dinner more manageable. It takes a lot of work to cut and clean out eight pumpkins, cut out bats, make witch hats and prepare all of the various items that were going into the pumpkin pot pies. They helped my stress level stay low and we enjoyed quality time with each other –Read More....

Indian food is fairly intricate to prepare, there are so many spices and flavors that go into it, but that is what makes it so darn yummy. I was a little overwhelmed by all the chopping for this TN - between the chutney, raita, rice, salad and the quince for the desserts I definitely spent quite a bit of time on all the prep. I’ve definitely got to get me an effective food processor soon. I like the combo blender/food processor unites that recently came out. I need to do some research on them Read More....

During our yearly family reunions we take turns cooking. I decided it would be fun to do a special TEST NEST for my family since they live so far away and can't participate in my experiment here in NYC. Dinner for 22 people is a whole new ballgame. There wasn’t a sit down course dinner structure since we had the little kids. I also explained the ratings before everyone starting eating and the chaos began. What happened next was priceless - just imagine a lot of adorable and vocal kids taking aRead More....

May was quite the busy month. I had barely recouped from my trip to Holland and publicity for the Dance Parade (which was 3 days after later) before I was cooking away for this TEST NEST. I do love doing these dinners, and I’m getting better at being more efficient and timing things so they are hot and ready, but they are a lot of work. I had a few last minute cRead More....

Over the past four months I've made 90 recipes; 13 of those were not keepers and 12 have been 5 Star. I thought I'd share a few other easy recipes that I've made which have been quite yummy. I forget to take pictures when it is not an actual TEST NEST dinner, but these were worthy recipes.
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While in Michigan I was able to do a kid TEST NEST with my nephew Jason and niece Camille and her friends. When I proposed the idea to my sis-in-law I was only thinking of food, but mom’s always know best. Tammy suggested we do something around Alice in Wonderland with fun “zany” activities. We spent five days preparing for our Mad Hatter party, making this the most time extensive TEST NEST yet, but truly a one-of-a-kind. The weather kept away a few friends, and the gamesRead More....

I’ve always loved St. Patrick’s Day, I mean really, who doesn’t like a good pinch every now and then? I have a lil’ bit o’ Irish in my blood (something like 9 generations back, and there are conflicting accounts), so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to host a “green” TEST NEST. Guests testers Mindy Booth, Jason & Erica Gardner (plus baby in tummy), Jane Madsen, David Caine, Tim Tanner and Sally Atkinson all came with their festive spirits (but I forgot to take a piRead More....